Lake Placid golfers include Conner Reid, Tanner Foley, Drew Ferebee, Brady Trombley, Drew Maiorca, Cole Jacques, Noah Tavares, Dustin Patterson and Thatcher Nicholson. Brendon Bullock, Chris Byrne, Jackson Deeney, Lars Kroes and Hunter Wilmot are missing from the photo. (Photo provided)

LAKE PLACID — There is little doubt that Lake Placid has been the dominant golf team in the Champlain Valley Conference during recent years. A 40-match winning streak in regular-season matches is proof enough.

The big question facing the Blue Bombers this season is: Will they be able to keep that run going after seeing four mainstays graduate, including Bjorn Kroes, who was last year’s Section VII individual champion and is now competing in the sport at Cornell University?

Although Lake Placid doesn’t have the same type of experience this spring, long-time head coach John Glinski isn’t counting his team out when it comes to the possibility of keeping the winning streak alive, as well as capturing another Section VII team title.

Two team members who give cause for Glinki’s optimisim are senior Drew Maiorca, who finished runner-up behind Kroes in the sectional championships a year ago, and ninth-grader Lars Kroes, who placed 11th in the Section VII tournament last year. The pair should be among the top players in the CVAC this season and are the Blue Bombers’ lone golfers back who stayed in the team’s top six in 2017. Golfers like Noah Tavares and Hunter Wilmot, who were knocking on the top-six door last spring, provide additional hope for a successful Lake Placid golf season.

With Maiorca, the team’s captain, leading the way, the Blue Bombers enter the 2018 golf season with a roster of 16, evenly split between returning players and newcomers.

“We lost quite a bit — four guys out of six — but I still think we’ll be tough,” Glinski said. “I think all the teams lost a lot, and there will be a lot of young kids out there this season. We have four guys back who I expect to be in the top six, and from there, it looks wide open. I think a key for us will be consistency at the back of the lineup.

“For us, the goal is keep the win streak going and win sectionals again,” Glinski said. “There doesn’t look to be one clear favorite this season, but it is early. It’s tough seeing what we have when the kids are hitting in the gym.”

Maiorca is Lake Placid’s captain and Glinski said he’s going to play an important role helping bring the younger players along.

“Drew is a good golfer, and he’s definitely the team leader,” Glinski said. “He’s already done a lot with our seventh- and eighth-graders, and that’s where our numbers are up. It they stay around, we could be decent for the next few years.”

Maiorca finished runner-up in indiviudal play at the 2017 Section VII championships and is expected to contend for the title again this year. Glinski said Maiorca’s main competition could end up being Moriah senior Joey Stahl, who won the title two seasons ago.

In addition to Maiorca, Kroes, Tavares and Wilmot, Lake Placid’s other returning golfers are Brendan Bullock, Jackson Deeney, Tanner Foley and Cole Jacques. First-year team members are Chris Byrne, Drew Ferebee, Thatcher Nicholson, Conner Reid, Jackson Smith, Brady Trembley, Alex Wright and Dustin Patterson.

Lake Placid plays its home high school matches at the Craig Wood Golf Course.